The European Commission is proposing a directive that labs must use embryos for experimentation in order to spare animals. Not only is this a naked power grab, denying to EU member states the right to make their own decisions about what’s ethically appropriate, it’s gross:

An accompanying EC report explains that the policies will mean that in any tests involving prenatal development, human embryonic stem cells must be used before animals. “The establishment of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 raised hopes in many research areas, including the development of alternatives to animal experiments,” the report says. It recommends human embryonic research as a “powerful alternative to animal tests.”

President Barack Obama’s intelligence chief confirmed Thursday that some Guantanamo inmates may be released on US soil and receive assistance to return to society.

I wish scientists would start fighting back. Or at least start slapping people who say stuff like that. This isn’t the cosmetics industry we’re talking about, for crying out loud.

Now I need a third thing. This shouldn’t be hard. Nope, here we go, at The Corner:

The famous, of course, have turned to ghostwriters for autobiographies and other acts of self-aggrandizement. But the idea of having someone else write continual updates of one’s daily life seems slightly absurd.